A novel positioning method of anti-punching drilling robot based on the fusion of multi-IMUs and visual image

Anti-punching drilling robot (APDR) is the key equipment for underground rock burst relief in coal mine and the accurate position and attitude determination is the basis and premise for realizing unmanned pressure relief operation. In this paper, a novel positioning method of APDR based on spatial array inertial measurement units (IMUs) and visual image is proposed. Firstly, the spatial array layout of multiple IMUs is displayed creatively, and the data fusion model and the posture calculation process of spatial array IMUs are constructed. The superiority of proposed spatial array IMUs is verified through the motion trajectory simulation analysis and mobile carrier simulation experiments. Then, an image enhancement method (SSR-AF) is designed to overcome the problems of atomization, glare, uneven illumination and noise interference in coal mine images, so as to improve the accuracy of image feature extraction and matching. Accordingly, the positioning estimation model based on continuous frame images is established. Furthermore, the fusion positioning process of APDR is presented by using the loose coupling mode based on Kalman filtering algorithm. The position and attitude monitoring experimental platform of APDR is built in a simulated coal mine tunnel. The experimental results indicate that the calculation errors of displacement and attitude based on the proposed fusion positioning method is superior to the competing methods, which meet the actual positioning requirements, and verify the feasibility and practicability of the proposed positioning method for APDR.